


Emergency Contact

by soulofevil



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Gen, Police Academy, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship, Some angst, diego's first trip to a hospital
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-27
Updated: 2019-03-27
Packaged: 2019-12-18 15:33:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18252719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soulofevil/pseuds/soulofevil
Summary: The police academy hadn't been much better for Diego then the Umbrella Academy had been, but at least he's got Eudora to give him a ride home.





	Emergency Contact

Something hard yanked Diego’s foot, throwing off his weight and balance. His face slammed into the ladder and for a moment Diego knew what life was like for Luther, weightless and seeing stars before gravity reunited him with the ground and everything went black.

* * *

 

His body throbbing in time with his heartbeat was the first thing Diego noticed. Then it was the suffocating smell of antiseptic and fake lemon followed by the beeping. He peeled his eyes open, looking around a hospital room for the first time in his life. Reginald had his own set up in the academy and Diego was positive he would let any of his kids die before he would bother with taking them to a hospital.

 

Sitting up, Diego winced at a stab of pain in his shoulder and tried to be more gentle as he got out of the bed. His back was sore and his shoulder was dislocated but this wasn’t the first or even third time that had happened. Limping over to the mirror, Diego peeled back the bandaid over his left eyebrow and saw the stitched up skin. He let out a slow breath, his stomach rolling in nausea. Stitches meant needles. Oh god, a needle had been that close to his eye.

 

“Mr. Hargreeves, you should stay in bed and rest until someone can come to pick you up”

There wasn’t a single part of that sentence Diego liked. He continued to inspect his reflection, looking for any other wounds before turning around to level an even stare at the nurse.

“We also need to go over care for your injuries and set up-”

 

“Don’t wash it for 24 hours, keep it covered, keep it clean.”

He pointed at the stitches first before the hand dropped to his shoulder. 

“Don’t move it, ice it, and I know the physical therapy routine. I have been dealing with this exact stuff for a lot longer than you’ve been working here.”

He walked over to her, taking the sling from her hands and easily got it on by himself before grabbing his few personal items, thankfully including enough change to make a phone call, and returning them back to his pockets. 

 

For a moment the nurse looked like she was going to try and stop him as he went for the door but then she thought better of it. Diego walked past her, muttering a ‘thank you’ because his mom had raised him with manners even if he didn’t always use them.

 

All his physical pain was eclipsed by the ache that came every time he thought of his mom. He wished he could call her and ask for a ride home. Hell, he wanted to call her just to hear a friendly voice.

 

“Hey.”

 

There was a light touch to his uninjured shoulder and Diego turned to see Eudora standing there. She looked him over and for once Diego didn’t try to put on a front. He was too tired and too hurt.

 

“What are you doing here Eudora? Someone sabotage your obstacle course run too?”

There was none of the usual playfulness in his tone, just weariness. Her face softened a bit and she nodded towards the door.

 

“I thought you might need a ride.”

 

She accepted his silence as a yes and Diego followed a step behind her out to the parking lot and to her car. Eudora didn’t try to needlessly help him, and she didn’t try to force conversation, instead just turning the radio up loud enough to make the drive less awkward. Diego watched her from the corner of his eye, trying to decide what this meant, or if it even meant anything. Eudora and him were friendly rivals, sometimes they studied or worked out together and when they did well on exams they’d go out with some of the other cadets and have a drink. But whatever they were, he had never thought they weren’t the kind of friends that picked each other up from the hospital.

 

She pulled into the gym’s parking lot, turning off the engine before shifting in the driver’s seat to face him. 

“Why don’t you have anyone down as an emergency contact?”

Dusk had darkened the sky and for that Diego was thankful, the shadows were dark enough that he couldn’t read the look on Eudora’s face and tell if it was pity.

 

“It seemed inappropriate to put my landlord down and he is honestly the only one who would give a shit.”

The only other person wasn’t even a person and now Diego was thankful that Eudora could see the look on his face. He didn’t want her to see him looking so pathetic and miserable.

 

“You know that’s not true Diego, there are others who care-”

She put a hand on his arm, giving it a gentle squeeze until Diego brushed it off, glaring across the car at her.

 

“What? My family? Most of them have their heads too far up their own asses to care and the others are too numbed out on pills.”

Bitterness laced his words, they all shared the same last name but the Hargreeves weren’t much of a family. 

 

“I wasn’t talking about them.”

 

“Oh.”

 

He looked over at her, holding his breath because if he did anything he thought he might cry. His eyes were already burning and when Eudora reached into the backseat for her purse, Diego swiped at them as discreetly as he could. If she noticed she didn’t say anything, instead pulling out a carefully folded piece of paper and handing it to him.

 

“You should update your paperwork tomorrow Diego. Unless you actually plan on following the doctor’s orders and getting some rest.”

 

Diego chuckled softly as he fumbled to get the car door open.

“I’ll see you tomorrow Dora.”

He got out of her car, holding the door open for a moment as he looked down at the paper before looking back at her.

“Thanks.”

He shut the door and hoped that she knew he meant for everything, not just today but every day she put up with his abrasiveness.

 

Questions were thrown in his direction as he walked through the gym but no one harassed him for any answers as he made his way back to the boiler room. He shut his door and kicked off his shoes, sitting down on his bed before unfolding the paper Eudora had given him. A copy of his personal info for the police academy, the Emergency Contact section now amended to include Eudora Patch as a close friend.

  
  
  



End file.
